Traditionally, robots, toys, or static/dynamic platform apparatuses are all manufactured with solid and firm appearance that usually appear to be lifeless and rejecting. With the rapid technology development in recent years, those conventional apparatuses of solid appearance are gradually being equipped with tactile sensing ability. Nevertheless, the tactile sensing ability is usually being achieved by the use of mechanical switch sensors or by attaching tactile/force sensors on the surface of those apparatuses. One of which is a robot with tactile sensing ability disclosed in JP Pat. No. 200527983, which use a piezoelectric element, covering the whole surface of the robot, as tactile sensor for detecting the magnitude and position of a touch. It is noted that although those prior-art tactile sensors are able to provide any apparatus attached thereby with tactile sensing ability, the appearance of such apparatus is still rigid and hard.
In addition, except for the hard and rigid appearance, those prior-art tactile sensors can not introduce any degree of softness to the apparatus attached thereby. Therefore, certain methods had been developed for improving the aforesaid softness problem. One of which is a finger-tip sensor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,747, which is substantially an elastic finger-shaped cap, filled with incompressible fluid, capable of detecting a contact pressure through the incompressible fluid by a pressure detector arranged therein. However, although the aforesaid patent is capable of providing a soft surface while detecting the magnitude and position of a touch at the same time, it can not introduce different degrees of softness to the surface.
Therefore, it is in need of a tactile sensing device and the apparatus using the same that are free from the foregoing shortcomings.